Comparative study of relational and object-oriented modelings of genomic data

Two major techniques wmmonly available for modeling genomic data are the nzlational and object oriented appmaches. This paper discusser the strengtha and weaknesses of both approaches. The comparison wua done using two rrets of disparate genomic data, one for the &. & genome and one for the human genome, in other to demonstrate the generolity of the modeling methods and the credibility of the comparison itself. One major atrength of fhe object-oriented approach is its highly flezibk data modeling power offering an elegant way of repnzsenting complez genomic objects. The approach’s major weakness includes the lack of generic way of accessing complez objects. The strength of the relational approach is its l;ll provision of SQL. But the approach5 weaknear is ctimbersome modeling of complez genomic objects that is due to normalization. This paper alro includes discussions on broader isauea related to the two alternative approaches such as #upport for ad hoc queries and a federation of heterogeneous genomic databases in which both Aational and object-oriented data modeb are wed.